Kathivanoor Veeran

What it is

Kathivanoor Veeran is a deity honoured in North Malabar, on the Kerala coast of India, and the rite through which he is met. The word veeran means hero in Malayalam. Believers hold that he was once a living man, a Thiyya warrior called Mandappan Chekavar, whose death at the hands of deceitful enemies turned him into a god. His life and rise to divinity remain part of the storytelling of the Kolathunadu region, and his presence is brought into temples through Theyyam, a dance ritual in which a performer takes on the deity's form. Of the many Theyyams of North Malabar, his is among the best-loved. Women of the area pray to him for a husband in good health, and those who attend his rite may put questions to the god before them.

Where it comes from

The legend makes Mandappan Chekavar, also spelled Mannappan, the son of Kumarappan, a wealthy Thiyya landowner of the Mangad Methaliyillam house, and of Chaki Amma of the Parakayillam house, at what is now Mangad in Kannur district. His birth is said to have come through the favour of the goddess Chuzali. Trained in arms, he preferred chasing deer and quail in the forest with companions to work, and when his father reacted by snapping his bow, he left home. A trading journey to the Kodagu hills ended with his friends abandoning him; he wandered to his uncle's house at Kathivanoor, gained half of that property, began an oil trade on his aunt's advice and married Velarkot Chemmarathi. When fighters from Kodagu attacked his village he beat them, but going back alone for a lost ring and finger he was killed by deceit. He and Chemmarathi are held to have become gods.

How it is done

The performance is marked by energy and flexibility of movement, and is usually staged after dark or in the first light of morning. Beside the dancer stands the Chemmarathi thara, a structure put up for the occasion from banana material, dyes of many colours and sticks of fire; it stands for the deity's wife, and its sixty-four compartments recall the belief that his enemies from Kodagu divided his body into that many portions. The performer's face is painted in a style called Nakam Thazhthi Ezhuthu, with beard and moustache included. People present may question the embodied god on any matter, and the reply given is expected to be correct.

Tools and materials

The principal built object is the Chemmarathi thara, raised from banana material, coloured dyes and burning sticks, and understood as the wife Chemmarathi herself. Its sixty-four cells serve as a memorial to the dismemberment of the hero in the story. The face is the other canvas: the painting style Nakam Thazhthi Ezhuthu gives the performer a beard and moustache, marking the warrior he becomes. Fire, colour and banana matter together set the scene for the deity's arrival.

What it is for

Two aims run through the devotion. The first belongs to women: girls and women of North Malabar are said to pray to Kathivanoor Veeran in the hope that he will grant them a husband who is strong and well. The second is consultation. Because the performer is understood to carry the god during the Theyyam, those who come may ask him questions on any subject, and the answers given through him are held to be sound. The rite therefore serves at once as a marriage blessing and as a chance to speak with the deity directly.

Who does it

The central figure is the Theyyam performer, who takes on the deity's shape before the community. The standard set for him is high: he is expected to be knowledgeable in every subject, since people at the rite can question him about anything and the god speaking through him is expected to answer well. The performance belongs to temple settings in the Kannur and Kasaragod districts, and happens at night or in the earliest hours. In the founding story, the first such performance took place before the hero's uncle, who gave the rite the name Kathivanoor Veeran.

Peoples and places

The story belongs to the Thiyya community of North Malabar: the hero is described as a Thiyya warrior, son of a Thiyya landlord. Worship today is centred on temples in the Kannur and Kasaragod districts, while the story remains current in the folklore of the old Kolathunadu region. Women of the area are the ones named as seeking his blessing for marriage.

What people believe

The tale rests on the idea that a mortal can become a god: the deity is described as the apotheosis, the raising to divine rank, of the warrior Mandappan Chekavar. Divine power appears at his birth, which is credited to the blessing of the goddess Chuzali. Words carry weight as well, for his wife's curse over his late hours marks his final day. Death through deceit is not the end: he and Chemmarathi, who took her own life on his funeral pyre, show themselves as gods to his uncle and the son Annukkan when the two return from the cremation. The Theyyam makes that divinity present, the god speaking through a human body.

Compare and confuse

Kathivanoor Veeran belongs to the wider Theyyam family of North Malabar, a roster of deities each with a legend and a rite of their own; his ranks among the best-loved. Beyond ritual, the 1997 film Kaliyattam carries a song opening with his name that tells his tale.

Today

The practice is alive. The Theyyam is staged in temples of the Kannur and Kasaragod districts, and women of the region still pray to him for marriage. New retellings keep coming: Lissie Mathew, a Malayalam professor at Kalady Sankaracharya College, traced the hero's rise from man to god in a study whose Malayalam title renders as 'the man who went up the hill, the god who came down the pass', published by the Kerala Bhasha Institute and taught at Mother Teresa Women's University in Kodaikanal, Kannur University and Kalady Sanskrit University. A children's book by E. V. Sugathan appeared on 17 October 2021, and a feature called Kathivanur Veeran is in preparation by Sree Mookambica Communications, a company begun by Gulf-based Malayalees, directed by Gireesh Kunnummal.

Questions people ask about Kathivanoor Veeran

Good reading and sources

• The tale of a much-loved heroThe Hindu, Article

• Kathivanoor Veeran on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data